Assam mourns the death of Sabina S. Saikia

 Guwahati Press Club and Journalist's Forum, Assam have expressed shock and grief at the unfortunate death of Sabina Sehgal Saikia, who was one of nearly 200 victims of Mumbai terror attacks. Sabina was one of those victims who fell prey to the terrorists' attacks in heritage Taj Hotel building. The consulting editor with The Times of India, Sabina was trapped inside the hotel as the Islamist terrorists seized many parts of Mumbai's Nariman areas on November 26.

 

Sabina, a Punjabi born and the daughter-in-law of Assam was found dead at Taj hotel after the counter-terrorism operation against the dreaded terror strikes in India was over. Her journalist husband Santanu Saikia, a former staffer of The Economic Times, identified her amidst the pile of dead bodies. With her husband, Sabina left behind two children too.

 

Earlier the security forces declared iconic Taj hotel free from terrorists' clutch on Saturday morning. Speaking to scribes, the National Security Guard director general J K Dutt declared that the commandos had killed the last three terrorists hiding in the hotel.

 

The anti-terror forces had regained control over Oberoi Hotel and also Nariman House. The nearly 60 hours terror attacks left 183 deaths including 22 foreign nationals. The operation that snatched away the lives of few security personnel, however was successful in eliminating nine terrorists and also one captured alive.

 

The Sentinel, a leading English daily of Assam, made editorial comments on Mumbai terror strikes as an attack on 'all Indians, who have proved to be a highly competitive nation and are confidently marching ahead towards becoming a global power'.

 

Expressing anger on the government's 'counter-terrorism text with pseudo-secular dots and commas', the editorial added, "This is a war against India, which the country must win — and it has the resources, too, to win. But the only deterrence is the 'secular', effete Manmohan Singh government itself. It does not have the guts to warn Pakistan, nor does it have the will to save innocent people from the openly declared jehad. It has, therefore, no right to rule any patriotic Indian."

 

Sabina married to Santanu, only son of an illustrious Assamese littérateur and journalist Chandra Prasad Saikia. The Sahitya Academy award winner authored C.P. Saikia edited a number of daily and literary magazines. Also chaired Asom Sahitya Sabha, highest literary forum of Assam Sakia died in 2006.

 

The member-journalists of Guwahati Press Club assembled in the club soon after the news of Sabina's death in terrorist's attack broke out on November 29. The journalists observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect to all the departed souls in the incident and also lit candles on the club premises.

 

In another statement, Journalist's Forum, Assam expressed profound grief at the tragic death of an eminent journalist and also an 'Asomiya bowari'. The forum condemned the terror attacks on Mumbai and urged the government to initiate prompt actions against the perpetrators.

 

The Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi also paid condolence at the untimely death of Sabina. In an official statement, Gogoi said Sabina 'carved a niche for herself in the field of journalism and literature'. The death of Sabina Sehgal Saikia is a great loss for the nation as well as Assam, the statement concluded.